1686. Antonio de Solis, a Spanish author of note, died, aged 76. He was appointed historiographer of the Indies, and wrote the Conquest of Mexico, on which his fame as an author principally rests.
1699. Birthday of Maria Catharina Walter, in Germany. She died in Philadelphia, 1802, aged over 103, having lived in three centuries.
1722. Charles Leslie, an Irish theologian, died. He was a magistrate under James II, and respected for his talents and integrity. His writings were numerous, and sought for with avidity.
1726. Velasco Y. Palomino, a highly admired Spanish painter, died at Madrid.
1742. Oliver Reylof died at Ghent, eminent as a Latin poet.
1743. Christopher Pitt, an English poet, died. His translation of Virgil's Æneid is said to be superior to Dryden's.
1759. George Frederick Handel, the illustrious German musical composer, died at London, aged 75. His grand oratorio, the Messiah, appeared in 1741.
1759. Battle of Bergen, in which the duke of Broglio defeated the allies under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, who lost 2,000 men and the Hanoverian prince Ysemberg.
1777. Battle of Boundbrook, New Jersey, in which 500 Americans under Gen. Lincoln were attacked by 2000 British under Cornwallis, and effected a retreat with the loss of 60.
1782. Third action off Ceylon, between the British under Admiral Hughes, and the French under Suffrein; latter defeated.